1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a transportable remotely actuated racking device for use in connection with insertion and removal of very high voltage industrial electric circuit breakers relative to housings therefor.
2. Brief Description of the Part
In many industrial applications, such as generator or transmission stations and points for the generation and transmission of electrical energy, very high amperes, high voltage circuit breakers are used in establishing and breaking high voltage circuits. Such circuit breakers also are utilized in electronic components within and to large electric motors for aircraft carrier components, large field operation stations, and the like wherein the electric power is in a range of approximately two thousand to twelve thousand amperes at six hundred to six thousand volts. Such circuit breakers often are provided within housings in rows or banks, or stocks, as shown in FIG. 1.
Often times, it is necessary to insert or remove a circuit breaker within one or more of the housings forming the bank of circuit breaker housings. Such requirement is necessitated by, for example, an increase or decrease of load requirement in the particular facility, or for repair or replacement of a particular circuit breaker, or line component or the power line extending to the circuit breaker, so that the circuit breaker components will accept a lower or higher voltage and amperes conducting circuit breaker, or for various other reasons known to those skilled in the art.
In the past, the prior art sometimes has provided circuit breaker assemblies that are affixed within the circuit breaker housing, but are not designed to be transportable from one housing to another housing in the bank of circuit breakers. Some of these devices require opening of the circuit breaker housing door for activation, while others may be operated either manually, mechanically or electrically with the door remaining shut.
The procedure for inserting and removing a circuit breaker from such housing is referred to as "racking-in and/or racking-out" When the circuit breaker is "racked-in", it is in the "on" position relative to the circuit therefor, and when it is in the "racked-out", it is in the "off" or "closed" position relative to said circuit. Thus, the device utilized in such a procedure is commonly referred to by those skilled in the art of inserting and removing such circuit breakers as a "racking device".
In the past, many such circuit breakers have been "racked" by insertion within the housing, as the occasion requires, into a cog system along the floor of the circuit breaker housing which is manually affixed to one end of a circuit breaker, and thereafter, operable to engage or disengage the circuit breaker by means of application by an operator of an elongate shaft held in the hands of the operator at one end and having cog receptacle members at the other end and inserted within the cog on the floor of the circuit breaker for moving the circuit breaker into and out of the housing. The shaft is moved from one cog grooveway to another cog grooveway to continue the movement either into or out of circuit engagement of the circuit breaker, until such time as the circuit breaker is either completely affixed within the circuit breaker housing or is completely removed from circuit transmission and engagement.
Recently, certain federal and/or state governmental safety requirements have discouraged the use of such type of a racking system because of possible exposure to fire and explosions which could, although infrequently, result because of some defect or the like within the circuit breaker system. Even though working personnel operating the rack are required to, and do, wear safety shields, helmets, and fire resistant or retardant clothing, including gloves, shoes, pants and vests, such fires and explosions may be so intensive that injury, oftentimes critical, has occurred to the human operators.
While some racking devices are remotely actuatable, in a sense, that is, by closing the door to the circuit breaker housing and activating such racking assembly, such devices are somewhat unsatisfactory because such racking still requires the operator to be immediate the housing for the circuit breaker and not at a "point of safety". These racking devices also are somewhat inefficient in activation because the housings for the circuit breaker also include the racking device, itself, thus rendering such racking devices fixed as opposed to transportable, and thereby enhancing the cost of the entire circuit breaker assembly within each of the housings in the various rows and stacks of circuit breakers at the particular facility.
The present invention addresses the deficiencies as described above with respect to the prior art racking devices.
A pre-filing novelty search conducted with respect to the present invention has developed the following patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. PATENTEE ______________________________________ 2,861,699 Youmans 3,171,920 Klein, et al 3,198,907 Archer, et a 3,296,565 Kiessel, et al 4,652,202 Arnett 4,912,380 Zylstra, et al 4,990,873 Grunet, et al 5,160,908 Mullins, et al ______________________________________
As used herein, "transportable" means the ability of the racking device of the present invention to be moved from one circuit breaker housing to another circuit breaker housing, either in the same row and/or within other rows or series of circuit breaker stacks, by one or more human operators. The term "point of safety", as used herein, means a relative distance and/or location away from the circuit breaker housing to another position whereby human operators of the racking device of the present invention may operate said racking device for racking the circuit breaker without having to activate the same by manually pushing or moving a device on or within the housing for the circuit breaker, said relative distance being on the order of from about ten feet to about sixty feet. Additionally, as used herein, the term "high-voltage" shall mean an electric power line range of between about two thousand to about twelve thousand amperes at from between about one thousand volts to about six thousand volts, or more. Finally, as used herein, the term "closed-circuit" refers to a television and a screen therefrom which receive and project video signals transmitted only from the camera during racking, as opposed to reception of a commercial television signal through commercial channels or cables having multi-channel signals received to the television and screen, and projecting thereon.